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Although there is a beautiful view of Mount Hood from Bull Run Lake, the watersheds are not connected. The only way to see where water begins, at least for water drinkers in Portland, is through a public tour with the Portland Water Bureau.
(Jamie Francis/The Oregonian)

Regarding the article "Fight for control of Water Bureau" (July 19): The fluoride fight is done. No one expects a revisit on that any time soon -- and it should not be an argument for ditching the Bureau of Environmental Services and the Water Bureau.

The Water Bureau has, in recent years, developed a strong relationship with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the Bull Run watershed. It has provided high-quality drinking water for decades. BES accomplished separating stormwater and wastewater, at great cost but with great efficiency, to protect the Willamette River for years to come. I'm delighted that BES has taken a strong stewardship role for our wetland habitats. Both agencies provide some discounts for low-income householders.

Don't throw out the babies with the bath water. The City Council has strong oversight responsibilities. If citizens are dissatisfied with the work members have done, the remedy is continued citizen scrutiny of the budget process. One need only look at Clackamas River Water to see some of the perils of other management structures.

I say remain vigilant and keep the agencies that, in total, are doing a good job.

Water and wastewater management are expensive -- when you look for environmental and public health protection as vital city services.

TRICIA KNOLL Southwest Portland

Science education

Cass R. Sunstein's commentary on the low numbers of scientists and engineers emerging from colleges and universities today is persuasive, as long as he sticks to the facts ("Why U.S. kids don't major in science," July 20). But when he starts making assumptions and drawing conclusions from them, he lost me and, I suspect, many other interested readers.

Without evidence, Sunstein assumes that students switch away from majoring in science because they don't have the necessary foundation for college-level work. Then he draws two unwarranted conclusions: "College teachers aren't to blame" and "The impediment is a lack of high school preparation."

Isn't it possible that students switch because they are worried about continuing low grades in science courses that might doom them from being hired for any job after college? Isn't it also possible that a year of college makes them more realistic about their interests and abilities in such a demanding field as science? Another possibility is that their college professors are better scientists than teachers.

JOANNE YATVIN Southwest Portland

Trayvon Martin and race

I think some of the issues brought into our consciousness by the Trayvon Martin case give us all an opportunity to challenge our own snap judgments (based on race, social class, religion, mental illness, etc.) about people we don't know.

Though such an ideal may not always be realized in practice, we do at least start with the notion in the criminal justice system that people are innocent until proven guilty. However, in our daily lives, stigma essentially leads us to assume guilt of one sort or another in others. Even when evidence against our preconceived notions creates cognitive dissonance, we may deny or dismiss it.

This holding on to incorrect assumptions has been seen in everyone from politicians to doctors. We all suffer as a result of the little boxes that we put others into or are put into ourselves. Dustin Hoffman admitted recently that he had deprived himself the opportunity to know a great many women because of their lack of standard beauty.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it's an ugly thing when it hurts others.

LAURA CRABTREE Northeast Portland

Responding to the president's remarks, a man in Florida said that "the possibility of not talking about race has been moved even farther away and maybe out of reach forever" ("Verdict impels Obama to speak on race," July 20).

Until black men are stopped, arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced at the same rate as white men; until people of every race can buy houses wherever they wish; until job applications with names that "sound black" get as many replies as identical ones with names that "sound white"; until teens of every race are followed by department store detectives; until news coverage of crime features white criminals and black victims as often as black criminals and white victims; until movies feature black heroes and white villains as often as they feature white heroes and black villains; until there is true equal opportunity for all -- yes, we do have to keep talking about race.

Not talking about race is a privilege of being white, and it denies the inequities and injustices that people of color suffer every day in America.

ANDERS LILJEHOLM Southeast Portland

We need the president of the United States to stay neutral when it comes to things like the death of Trayvon Martin. We all know that Martin's death was a horrible thing and never should have happened. But when the president adds his two cents, it only stirs the pot.

Now if President Barack Obama wanted to go a little further and comment on all the blacks killing blacks in his hometown of Chicago and how senseless this is, that is something I would like to hear him talk about.

JUDY FRALIA-MANTELLO Beaverton

I could not disagree more with the letter to the editor from Jim Ramsey (July 19), which stated, "Martin would probably be alive today if he had made the decision to walk away rather than fight."

If George Zimmerman would have stayed in his car, as law enforcement advised, Trayvon Martin would have simply walked away with his Skittles, and his life, intact.

BOB ROUNDTREE Southwest Portland

Can you "stand your ground" if you are unarmed?

If so, then Trayvon Martin had a right to do so. If not, then it looks like gun owners have more rights than unarmed people.

If you want to claim the right to "stand your ground," do you need to be carrying a gun?

ALLEN EVANS Southeast Portland

To all those in the Oregon/Washington community who think the George Zimmerman trial was fair, I suggest you walk in the shoes of a young black man or woman for six months.